


Merry Christmas or something like that

by fangurks, soulless_blue



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Arthur Finds Out About Merlin’s Magic (Merlin), Christmas, Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Translation by a friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:20:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22230958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangurks/pseuds/fangurks, https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulless_blue/pseuds/soulless_blue
Summary: It’s the first Christmas Eve since Arthur’s father died and Merlin will do anything to turn this into the perfect feast for his friend. His plan might get ruined when Arthur suddenly appears in his apartment, while Merlin prepares everything with magic. Did he mention that Arthur didn’t actually know about his magic?
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 228





	Merry Christmas or something like that

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, I wrote the story Originally in german and my english is not exactly good. That's why a friend (@fangurks) helped me and translate this story. A huge thank you to you for that.  
> Secondly, this is my first Merthur Story so i hope it's good enough. 
> 
> And yes ... I will shut up now and you can read. Have fun

There were only a few days left until Christmas, and technically this was a huge exasperation, if you took in account that it was less than 24 hours until Christmas. A small but nonetheless important fact, that lead to Merlin being royally fucked.

His apartment didn’t hold the smallest hint of festivity and that was exactly what he had to fix, as fast as possible. Because, in a few hours, Arthur would stand in his apartment to spend Christmas Eve with him. If it weren’t for that, Merlin wouldn’t give a darn about all of this. A small, probably fake, Christmas tree and something from the deli would’ve sufficed.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like Christmas or that he didn’t want to celebrate – he just didn’t want to celebrate alone, and that’s what he usually did. Well, not all the holidays, he would usually drive to his Mum – which he will still do, this time only with Arthur – but only the next day. You could call it lonely, but Merlin wouldn’t call it all that bad.

The reason for his lack of loneliness this year had a simple explanation: The day prior he had talked to Arthur and somehow they landed on the topic of Christmas Eve and Merlin couldn’t resist but ask what the blonde would do. Normally, he wouldn’t ask about something like this, since it’s always the same with his friend. But this time it was different.

Arthur’s father died, not long ago, and it somehow made Merlin feel the need to ask. The answer he received was enough to deter his own plans. His friend was of the opinion, that he had no need for this whole ordeal and would stay at home. And it was exactly this that made the black-haired go into action: His friend, even if he would never admit this, loved Christmas and everything that goes with it. The Christmas tree, cookies, classical Christmas songs and all of the sorts. Because of this, Merlin prompted Arthur – without really having a choice to decline – to spend his Christmas at his place and plain out invited him. In the spur of the moment, he may or may not have forgotten that his apartment didn’t have a single trace of holiday feelings and therefore he had to fix that.

And because of that reason, he was now standing in his small kitchen – which admittedly looked worse than that one time his tomato soup exploded – with an iron sheet of burnt cookies. One of the same kind already lay on the table and in his living room, he had a sorry excuse for a tree standing, and the preparing of the festive food hadn’t even begun, just like all the decorating. And to make matters worse, time was running against him. It was only a matter of time until Arthur would arrive and the way things we currently looking, Merlin wasn’t capable of showing him The Fantastic Christmas Eve. Something he would not accept.

With a quick glance to the clock, Merlin decided the situation could not continue this was. If he wanted to accomplish this, he had to use different tricks. It would give him enough time to dispose of the unfortunate cookies, pack Arthur’s present and to change clothes – not exactly in that order – because he didn’t exactly look better than his kitchen.

He sighed, took in the chaos once more and nodded. With a golden flash of his eyes, the cookie dough started to get done seemingly by thin air, just like the Christmas globes and fairy lights hung themselves seemingly alone on the tree, that honestly didn’t look as terrible any more. Admittedly, Merlin could’ve used his magic from the very beginning, but in theory, he had wanted to do this by himself. But this way it would work out too.

While the cookies put themselves in the oven, Merlin prepared the rest of the meal and shove it in the oven as well, after the cookies were done. The warlock decided he could shower next, and then finish the rest that could not be done with magic.

While Merlin was under the shower, Arthur stood in front of the apartment door and furrowed his brow. Instead of a locked door, he found a door that was only slightly leaned in, which made him shake his head. “The idiot”, the blonde murmured, who actually wasn’t as surprised by Merlin forgetting to fully close the door.

Since he was invited in the first place, Arthur opened the door and closed it fully behind him, not like certain other people. The jacket he wore was quickly hung up in the corridor, and his shoes landed next to the pair already standing there.  
“Merlin, you left your door open. You know, burglars still exist, even if it’s Christmas Eve. Someday you-“, the words caught in his throat upon entering the living room.

Red and silver globes, and fairy light were flying towards a tree to decorate them. Struck silent, Arthur stood in the room and rubbed his eyes once, before pinched himself, making sure he wasn’t dreaming. But then again, this had to be a dream, what other explanation would there be for these things to fly? It was impossible.

With the blink of an eye, the sorcery was gone and the globes and lights which were merrily making their way to the tree fell to the ground, where they burst. There were sounds from the kitchen, like something dropping to the floor.

“A-Arthur?”

Immediately, Arthur turned around upon hearing the all too familiar voice, only to see Merlin’s panicked face. And if anything else wasn’t enough, then it was his pained expression, that made Arthur realize that he was not dreaming. That there were actual globes and lights that were floating through the air.

“Merlin, what’s going on?” Arthur couldn’t even figure out himself how he could sound this calm. But he didn’t feel the slightest hint of panic, no matter what he saw. He was just… surprised? Curious? Must be something in between, he mused.

“I… I can explain. So, eh…”, Merlin stuttered, obviously not sure what to say. The blonde only sighed, before running his hand through his hair. “Tell me, did your decorations just fly through your living room to decorate the Christmas tree by themselves?”

The only answer was a slight nod from Merlin, which made him sigh in return. Well enough, at least now he knew with absolute certainty that… this… actually happened. Not that his doubts were all that big beforehand already. And before Arthur was able to ask more, something in Merlin shifted.

“I have magic”, the black-haired said and seemed just as surprised by his words as Arthur, though Arthur would later wonder what had surprised him so much. Because really, what other explanation could there be? “What?”

“I said, I have magic. I was born with it”, Merlin explained, before stretching out his hand. Puzzled, Arthur furrowed his brow and started to ask, what he was doing, when he saw Merlin’s blue irises turn gold for a short moment, and shiny blue butterflied were flying from his outstretched hand, before they vanished a moment later. Fascinated, the blonde watched it unfold, while Merlin didn’t dare to come closer.

“I didn’t want you to find out like this, but I was so stressed. Nothing was ready and you were supposed to be here soon. So I helped myself with a little bit of magic. After all, everything was supposed to be perfect”, Merlin explained, which made him receive a surprised look from the blonde. “What? Why?”

Merlin uncomfortably looked at him for a moment, before avoiding eye contact and sighing. “I know how much you love Christmas, and don’t even try to deny it. But when you said, that you didn’t feel like doing anything and were in no mood for any of this, I couldn’t help myself but to invite you over. Even though nothing looked really festive,” he murmured and glanced at Arthur, “it’s the first Christmas Eve since your father’s death. I wanted to make it a perfect one for you.”

At the mention of his father, Arthur felt a pang of hurt, but it was quickly replaced by a flutter in his heart. He couldn’t believe that Merlin wanted to do this for him. So that he could have a nice Christmas. “You idiot”, Arthur said, and softly turned the others’ chin, so they were face to face and that Arthur could look into his eyes. “It would’ve been perfect, with or without a tree. Because we would’ve spent it together. Because I would have spent it with you.”

Without thinking, Arthur leaned forward and kissed Merlin. It wasn’t something he had planned on doing, what with the possibility of things becoming awkward between the two of them. But to his surprise – and delight, the warlock kissed him back.

“We still have to talk about the fact that you’re apparently a sorcerer and never cared to mention this before”, Arthur reckoned after parting the kiss, but still being close enough to Merlin’s face that they almost touched. “Warlock”, Merlin corrected him, before kissing the blonde once again. “But I think that’s not the only thing we should talk about”, he grinned, which made Arthur smile in return. “Possibly.”


End file.
